NYU Florence: Caterina Sforza’s Experiments with Alchemy

Prof. Meredith K. Ray: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy: Caterina Sforza’s Experiments with Alchemy. Caterina Sforza (1463-1509), regent of Imola and Forlì and progenitrix of the Medici Grand Ducal dynasty, had a keen interest in scientific experiment. She collected over four hundred alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes, and corresponded with other alchemical adepts about materials and laboratory techniques. Her example reflects a more general fascination with secrets that enthral